A joke has been making the rounds here, and it seems really accurate for the state our spring has been in. Here it is: It's harsh! I went for a run yesterday and I almost put my toque on. I suffered through hail, sleet, rain and gusting, cold winds. it has to stop soon! We got an email from my club, the opening has been delayed until May 2nd. I have some passes for the [...]
Here it is the end of March 2013, and not a hope of playing golf without a 3+ hour drive each way. This will be the first year in 10 that I have not played a round in my area in March. Last year was fantastic, we were playing in mid-March as temperatures were in the high 20’s (that would be high 70’s for those south of Canada). Today we are looking at a high [...]
Our last day for golf in Scotland, tomorrow we fly out. We had a noon tee time booked on the Jubilee Course, however we were hoping to get queued up on the New Course and get out by 9am or so, that way we could get to Glasgow, get checked into the hotel and get the van returned so that tomorrow won’t be so crazy. Trevor was great and got up early, fixing us big [...]
We woke up to a steady drizzle that did not stop as we drove to Carnoustie (about an hour away). As we got closer, the rain got worse, and even part of the A92 was flooded and we diverted through a small Scottish town that I did not catch the name of. We arrived at Carnoustie to an almost empty parking lot, and we started to fear the worst as we looked at puddles of water [...]
Driving on the motorways, all we can see are warnings that a bad rainstorm is headed our way. After picture perfect weather, this may be our day to experience a little true Scottish links in all its glory! With an early morning alarm (5:15) after a pretty late night out, we gathered up the sandwiches that Trevor had left for us, grabbed a quick bite of fruit salad and headed out on the road to [...]
Since we couldn’t get onto the Old Course today, we booked a tee time at Kingsbarns (http://www.kingsbarns.com/) based on Froggyson’s recommendation (once again). It was fantastic, easily my favorite course so far in the rotation. It is very close between Kingsbarns and Turnberry, however for some reason Kingsbarns just pleased my eye better, and the finishing holes are much stronger, especially 18 with the burn in front of it. We elected to take a fore-caddie with [...]
We’ve finally arrived in St. Andrews after driving a couple of hours from Troon, just south of Glasgow. We got checked in and immediately went walking down to the Old Course here in St. Andrews. It is really magic. The grass seems to be a different colour, the setting sun is shining on the R&A, everything is perfect. Well almost perfect, we didn’t make the ballot, so we have to play Kingsbarns tomorrow instead and [...]
From the Prestwick website (http://www.prestwickgc.co.uk/index.html): Prestwick Golf Club was founded in 1851 by a group of 57 members who met at the Red Lion Inn, Prestwick. The first Open Championship was held at Prestwick on October 17, 1860 and played according to the Rules of Prestwick Golf Club. Today was a great day of golf. Our tee time on one of the older courses in the world was at 11:07am, the sun was shining and [...]
Another great day in Scotland with sunshine, blue skies and an expected high of about 13 degrees Celsius (about 56 degrees Fahrenheit). Today course is Kilmarnock Barassie (http://www.kbgc.co.uk/) which was founded in 1887 and is celebrating it’s 125 anniversary this year. As one of the Open Championship Final Qualifying courses, Barassie is supposed to be a challenging layout with excellent greens. Our tee time was set for 11:30am, and we ended up a bit early [...]
After a great 12 hours of much needed sleep, followed by a great breakfast prepared by our host William (at the Miller Guest House in Ayr - http://www.millerhouseayr.co.uk/home.html), we headed off to play the Turnberry Ailsa course. Following the coastal road, we decided to stop in at Culzean Castle for a little Scottish culture of the non-drinking kind (http://www.culzeanexperience.org/). This is a fantastic working castle built on the cliffs over looking the ocean. We didn’t elect [...]
